Guy recovers $4.5M in BTC bought for $2k on a dead 2012 exchange

[DKeller]

Came across a story about a British investor who bought bitcoin back in 2011/2012 through Britcoin, which later became Intersango, a UK exchange that stopped trading in late 2012 and went fully offline by 2014. He put in around $2,000, watched it grow to $5,400, then lost access when the exchange died. He figured it was gone for good.

A law firm (CEL Solicitors) used crypto-tracing tools and found a wallet tied to former Intersango users holding over 5,500 BTC, worth around $421M total. His share came out to about $4.5M, since he'd bought under $4 per coin back then.

He needed old bank records going back almost 15 years just to prove the coins were his. Most people don't hang onto paperwork for a $2k buy they wrote off as a loss over a decade ago.

The firm says other former Intersango users might be able to claim funds too if they can establish ownership.

Makes me wonder how many old exchange wallets from that era are just sitting there untouched. Anyone here have funds stuck on a long-dead exchange from back then? Did you ever try tracing it, or just let it go?

[OgNasty]

I got tied up in the mtgox situation which had a similar story.  Getting money back 15 years later that you originally got much cheaper...  I had somewhere around 19 BTC on mtgox when it went bankrupt.  I ended up getting back around 2 BTC about 15 years later.  There was a lot of paperwork involved, but mostly the bankruptcy attorneys handled that.  In the end, I had around 2 grand of Bitcoin that ended up turning into a fully loaded Tesla Cybertruck 15 years later.  I can't complain too much, but obviously having all the Bitcoin back would have been nice.

[Z-tight]

Here is a link to the story, for those wondering what the op is talking about:
https://www.gate.com/news/detail/british-man-recovers-33m-in-bitcoin-after-12-year-loss-23913301

Makes me wonder how many old exchange wallets from that era are just sitting there untouched. Anyone here have funds stuck on a long-dead exchange from back then? Did you ever try tracing it, or just let it go?

I didn't even know anything about BTC in 2011, to be fair i was very young back then. I am sure only the users who are early adopters would know anything about this Intersango exchange, because i am just hearing about it for the first time. However, it is good news for Chris here, that he can finally benefit for adopting BTC from the early years, which was almost snatched away from him due to custodial storage.

[Yamane_Keto]

Came across a story about a British investor who bought bitcoin back in 2011/2012 through Britcoin, which later became Intersango, a UK exchange that stopped trading in late 2012 and went fully offline by 2014. He put in around $2,000, watched it grow to $5,400, then lost access when the exchange died. He figured it was gone for good.

Merely tracking bitcoin is insufficient to claim them if exchange has lost access to them—other than a situation that can occur in cases such as bankruptcy. exchanges may impose conditions appropriating the balance, if the user has failed to log in for the long time.

[BABY SHOES]

We never know how many dead exchange wallets there are coins without being touched for a long time, it's just that the man was lucky to get back coins from the dead Exchange and was able to prove ownership through the bank, maybe that was when he bought cheap BTC on the exchange.

Crypto exchange cases close a lot... not all get back his assets, let alone with a large amount, suppose a large number of people will call a lawyer to help resolve this issue even though it takes many years.

So I completely never get bogged down in any exchange, because the assets that are in possession are stored in wallets that have their own control.

[aoluain]

Here is another lnk to this remarkable article >
https://blockonomi.com/british-investor-recovers-4-5m-in-bitcoin-lost-since-2011-exchange-collapse/

That is an amazing story and I'm sure "Chris" is on a massive high ATM.

Chris successfully recovered his share of these holdings.

According to CEL Solicitors, additional former Intersango customers may qualify to reclaim their assets, assuming they can substantiate their ownership of bitcoin held on the platform.

How exactly I wonder does Chris and everyone else involved get his Bitcoin back after they
prove they used the site and had funds remaining when it went down?

Given that the Bitcoin were still in a wallet after the Britcoin website stopped trading the
people running the site:

Didnt reimburse the owners
Didnt take the funds and disappear

[o48o]

Came across a story about a British investor who bought bitcoin back in 2011/2012 through Britcoin, which later became Intersango, a UK exchange that stopped trading in late 2012 and went fully offline by 2014. He put in around $2,000, watched it grow to $5,400, then lost access when the exchange died. He figured it was gone for good.

A law firm (CEL Solicitors) used crypto-tracing tools and found a wallet tied to former Intersango users holding over 5,500 BTC, worth around $421M total. His share came out to about $4.5M, since he'd bought under $4 per coin back then.

He needed old bank records going back almost 15 years just to prove the coins were his. Most people don't hang onto paperwork for a $2k buy they wrote off as a loss over a decade ago.

The firm says other former Intersango users might be able to claim funds too if they can establish ownership.

Makes me wonder how many old exchange wallets from that era are just sitting there untouched. Anyone here have funds stuck on a long-dead exchange from back then? Did you ever try tracing it, or just let it go?

Amounts i have lost over exchange disappearing are so much lower compared to that, even though that btc is serious money these days. I would have spend that btc probably anyway to buy some crappy altcoins, so i don't think it as a huge loss.

And i am pretty sure that you don't need to hold on to some paperwork, when you can just pay for bank to dig your old bank records, which they are legally obligated to keep. Also, some 15 year old paper documents wouldn't be enough to prove anything without confirming their legitimacy trough that bank, which they have those records for in the first place.

[Z-tight]

Didnt take the funds and disappear

Apparently during the course of litigation, it was discovered that one of the founders of this defunct exchange has in their possession ~ 5,500 BTC, so it very possible that a part of that money could be owned by Intersango's creditors. I believe we would see a couple of creditors attempt to reclaim their funds through the court, after Chris' successful attempt, as long as they are able to prove ownership.

[DKeller]

I got tied up in the mtgox situation which had a similar story.  Getting money back 15 years later that you originally got much cheaper...  I had somewhere around 19 BTC on mtgox when it went bankrupt.  I ended up getting back around 2 BTC about 15 years later.  There was a lot of paperwork involved, but mostly the bankruptcy attorneys handled that.  In the end, I had around 2 grand of Bitcoin that ended up turning into a fully loaded Tesla Cybertruck 15 years later.  I can't complain too much, but obviously having all the Bitcoin back would have been nice.

That's a rough haircut, 19 down to 2 BTC. So how the bankruptcy payout math actually worked out for you, was that mostly BTC lost to the estate covering claims in fiat terms at the old exchange rate, or something else in the process that ate most of it?

Wild that both stories end the same way, whatever you managed to keep did all the heavy lifting anyway.

[ColdLava40]

Makes me wonder how many old exchange wallets from that era are just sitting there untouched. Anyone here have funds stuck on a long-dead exchange from back then? Did you ever try tracing it, or just let it go?

A very small percentage of users would be able to hold their bank records for over 15 years. Although I was thinking this should be with the bank it self only have to try date it back to when you made the transaction.

He did get lucky being able to recover the coins, some would have given up years ago but maybe being desperate enough would keep one on going.

It take just a leap of faith that others are not able to take.

[OgNasty]

I got tied up in the mtgox situation which had a similar story.  Getting money back 15 years later that you originally got much cheaper...  I had somewhere around 19 BTC on mtgox when it went bankrupt.  I ended up getting back around 2 BTC about 15 years later.  There was a lot of paperwork involved, but mostly the bankruptcy attorneys handled that.  In the end, I had around 2 grand of Bitcoin that ended up turning into a fully loaded Tesla Cybertruck 15 years later.  I can't complain too much, but obviously having all the Bitcoin back would have been nice.

That's a rough haircut, 19 down to 2 BTC. So how the bankruptcy payout math actually worked out for you, was that mostly BTC lost to the estate covering claims in fiat terms at the old exchange rate, or something else in the process that ate most of it?

Wild that both stories end the same way, whatever you managed to keep did all the heavy lifting anyway.

The mtgox funds were lost in a hack.  Half of what was left basically went to the legal nonsense.  It would have been better if mtgox just distributed everything they could right away so the lawyers didn't have anything to steal, but then I probably would have spent 5 BTC when it was worth significantly less than the 2 BTC was when I got it.  Everything happens for a reason.  Lessons get learned.  People get smarter.  Life goes on.

[sunsilk]

I got tied up in the mtgox situation which had a similar story.  Getting money back 15 years later that you originally got much cheaper...  I had somewhere around 19 BTC on mtgox when it went bankrupt.  I ended up getting back around 2 BTC about 15 years later.  There was a lot of paperwork involved, but mostly the bankruptcy attorneys handled that.  In the end, I had around 2 grand of Bitcoin that ended up turning into a fully loaded Tesla Cybertruck 15 years later.  I can't complain too much, but obviously having all the Bitcoin back would have been nice.

That feels a lot of losses that you have never recovered but then, looking at the brighter side and can't complain with that situation that it's better to have those two rather than have nothing back.

And you're now enjoying that Tesla Cybertruck right now. I guess that it's more than 2 BTC and the attorney who did the work got their share as well.

Makes me wonder how many old exchange wallets from that era are just sitting there untouched. Anyone here have funds stuck on a long-dead exchange from back then? Did you ever try tracing it, or just let it go?

I haven't gone into the same experience but I think most of the users who have stuck funds in these closed exchanges didn't bother anymore.

But with this story that they have seen and the guy successfully able to recover his, I guess many will start to know the process and will pay any share they'll be asked for as long as they get anything from what they officially have left on those exchanges.

[Bd officer]

Anyone here have funds stuck on a long-dead exchange from back then? Did you ever try tracing it, or just let it go?

The man was very lucky because of which he got his lost Bitcoin back after almost 14 years. I think if the man had not faced such a problem, he would not have held BTC for so long, he would have sold it long ago. Anyway, he is living happily now but if he had not been able to recover the BTC, he would have regretted it for the rest of his life.

No! Personally, I have never faced such a problem in the past because I was not lucky enough to buy Bitcoin in the past.

[hmbdofficial]

~snip
The firm says other former Intersango users might be able to claim funds too if they can establish ownership.

Makes me wonder how many old exchange wallets from that era are just sitting there untouched. Anyone here have funds stuck on a long-dead exchange from back then? Did you ever try tracing it, or just let it go?

Big lesson from this should be how unsafe it can be having your holding on a centralized exchange, even if funds could be recovered it will take longer time like in this case and if you can’t even prove ownership you might as well not even recover your funds from situations like this. However, it’s good to see bitcoin doing magic to people that think they lost it 12 years ago. One interesting thing about this is that the bitcoin as at then did not actually worth that much, I’m looking at the difference between $2k and $4m. only bitcoin can do stuffs like this.
Good thing is that he was atleast able to recover the bitcoin after a decade.

[X-ray]

That's awesome recovery, one of the benefit of using exchange that's in your jurisdiction, even if the exchange goes down, you can still recover it somehow.

The offshore exchanges out there would give middle finger and ignore your emails if you ever attempt recovery after more than a decade because they already have it in mind to make lawsuit as expensive as possible.

Even though keeping Bitcoin in your hardware wallet is still the way to go, the Bitcoin don't need to be in custody of other party for too long.

[UchihaSarada]

Came across a story about a British investor who bought bitcoin back in 2011/2012 through Britcoin, which later became Intersango, a UK exchange that stopped trading in late 2012 and went fully offline by 2014. He put in around $2,000, watched it grow to $5,400, then lost access when the exchange died. He figured it was gone for good.

He needed old bank records going back almost 15 years just to prove the coins were his. Most people don't hang onto paperwork for a $2k buy they wrote off as a loss over a decade ago.

The firm says other former Intersango users might be able to claim funds too if they can establish ownership.

The story is interesting and promising for people who used to be users of Britcoin that is a dead exchange many years ago. It's good in theory while practically, it can become unrealistic hope and impossible task for getting your money back.

Most important, it depends on how that Britcoin exchange died and whether the founder of Britcoin is still alive, known and has money to compensate the exchange users.

What is the Britcoin or Intersango exchange?
I can not find any dead exchange with such name.

Hacked Exchanges since 2011.
List of cryptocurrency exchange hacks.
Documented timeline of cryptocurrency exchange hacks.
Cryptocurrency exchange graveyard.

[aoluain]

Didnt take the funds and disappear

Apparently during the course of litigation, it was discovered that one of the founders of this defunct exchange has in their possession ~ 5,500 BTC, so it very possible that a part of that money could be owned by Intersango's creditors. I believe we would see a couple of creditors attempt to reclaim their funds through the court, after Chris' successful attempt, as long as they are able to prove ownership.

As OG mentioned below, after a protracted legal case the law firms will end up siphoning off
a good portion of those funds. It would most certainly be better to try and settle an agreement
with that founder of the site.

Even if I had to take a hit on what I might be owed, it would still be more beneficial to me than
getting lawyers involved. I think thats how I would approach it initially.

[Z-tight]

Even if I had to take a hit on what I might be owed, it would still be more beneficial to me than
getting lawyers involved. I think thats how I would approach it initially.

Anybody would try to avoid litigation costs were possible, but i am not sure how creditors in this case can do that, if they actually have any intention of recouping what they lost decades ago. Why i say so is because Intersango is defunct and it is not like they are in any process of reimbursing customers, neither is there a board of trustees handling any of such process.

I don't think there is any way you can approach the founder of this exchange with a legitimate claim, without involving lawyers and litigation.

[Mpamaegbu]

... it's just that the man was lucky to get back coins from the dead Exchange and was able to prove ownership through the bank, maybe that was when he bought cheap BTC on the exchange.

Extremely lucky, I must add. He's lucky to also be in a country where institutions work and things are done transparently. I don't forsee that level of work happening with institutions in my country. It would be an unending story.

No doubt, the dude (Chris) will have a blast this Christmas.

[oll]

Came across a story about a British investor who bought bitcoin back in 2011/2012 through Britcoin, which later became Intersango, a UK exchange that stopped trading in late 2012 and went fully offline by 2014. He put in around $2,000, watched it grow to $5,400, then lost access when the exchange died. He figured it was gone for good.

A law firm (CEL Solicitors) used crypto-tracing tools and found a wallet tied to former Intersango users holding over 5,500 BTC, worth around $421M total. His share came out to about $4.5M, since he'd bought under $4 per coin back then.

He needed old bank records going back almost 15 years just to prove the coins were his. Most people don't hang onto paperwork for a $2k buy they wrote off as a loss over a decade ago.

The firm says other former Intersango users might be able to claim funds too if they can establish ownership.

Makes me wonder how many old exchange wallets from that era are just sitting there untouched. Anyone here have funds stuck on a long-dead exchange from back then? Did you ever try tracing it, or just let it go?

A long time ago, my friend invested in an ico and pointed out that the way to withdraw tokens was not a cold wallet, but an exchange wallet, and with the wrong network. And he saw that when the ico ended, his tokens went to the stock exchange and were essentially available. At that time, the price of this investment was already about five thousand dollars. Now I do not know how much it is because it was altcoins, and maybe now they are worth like a handful of peanuts. But it doesn't change the fact that he asked the exchange to send him tokens, and they could have done it, but they didn't. That is why, after all the ICOs, they began to write that the participants would not indicate their personal addresses.